Ebola Patient in Atlanta Hospital

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Yes, there is another problem. Although technically it is not an airborne disease, it can also be transmitted through large droplets of water through the ventilation system.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Exactly, it doesn't make any sense to do that. Oh my, for some reason this is confusing me. If it was actually him then broadcasting his journey to Emory wasn't smart. Why would something like that be broadcast when it's known how many Americans feel about him being back in this country with Ebola?

originally posted by: Libertygal
Talk about the topic. Not me.

Yes of course, I apologise for personalising my reply, I should have generalised my points.

a reply to: Rocketgirl

hopefully the safest man in the world,, his blood may hold the key to mankinds future,,litterally,,just like the movies.

if he is somehow, a key to finding a cure,,or he dies.

21 days.

a reply to: Libertygal
Ugh, that sucks. Well then just try to stay away from bodily fluids and people, I guess.

There are some pics and video starting on page 25 of this thread. I think it was a Grady ambulance too. Not sure. Way too much local involvement if you ask me.

kosmicjack and CNN covered it live for the most part With lots of speculation, of course.

Atlanta is such a bad city for the CDC to transport these unfortunate souls. Of course it is a very strategic place as well. A giant corporate news company that will keep the public as docile as hindu cows. This city couldn't even handle a little ice storm. How in the world will they handle a citywide infection if this disease is not handled appropriately? If you look at all of the major things this city does in the country it is a cocktail for disaster. Hartsfield-Jackson International airport is the busiest airport in the world. If one infected person is walking around there then the virus will spread like wildfire international in as little as a week. That is very scary to think about friends. Look at the attractions in the city that don't get much attention. The World of Coke (Coca-Cola museum i call it) where on any day you may meet people from 15 different countries. Not to mention the "tasting room" where people try free samples and leave used cups laying around (saliva). I just don't see any good ever coming out of this.

a reply to: BobAthome

You are such a nerd but in a good. Remember I'm not laughing at you I'm laughing at the nerdy part of your comment.

Back on topic, seriously, I would love to know. In this case I have a right to be nosey and so does everyone else.

I'm still watching CNN now and apparently he's now in isolation.

Well, looks like he walked into the hospital just a little bit ago.


American Ebola Patient Walks Into Atlanta Hospital...

a reply to: grainofsand

People can take precautions. Any human fluid, even through secretions, contact with broken skin, water droplets through the ventilation system, etc can transmit this virus. People living in the areas where Ebola cases have been reported have to take precautions which can help them avoid possibly being infected.

a reply to: grainofsand

Fair enough. I am no expert, but my father is a Prof who has worked for WHO. He specializes in Malaria and tropical diseases. While you don't want to mess with ebola, with normal hygiene and isolation it is not considered highly contagious. I think a couple of scary movies have freaked people out. Chill.

a reply to: ozwest

Ozwest, you should see the twisted machinations that Dr. Sanjay Gupta went through to school us (duriing the segment on the transport) on the difference between "infectious" and "contagious" after CNN (I forget who was talking) came out and said "it is not contagious."

Sure there's some difference, but to flat out make that statement? No. I'm sure they got a lot of immediate backtalk on that little slip. Ridiculous.

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: ~Lucidity

Yes, there is another problem. Although technically it is not an airborne disease, it can also be transmitted through large droplets of water through the ventilation system.

Well, that, at least, is one good thing about the special isolation rooms. We have 3 in my unit. They have a totally enclosed ventillation system that uses specialty filters that will entrap down to the smallest micron particles. They were specially designed for TB, in our hospital, the most communicable airborne disease.

The rooms are inspected daily while in use, by engineering, and then after the patient is discharged, the filters are replaced, and the entire.filtration system is cleansed. These rooms are one of the best defenses against airborne transmissions.

As I tried to impress in my previous post, I would be more concerned about standard contact precautions being where the breakdown in the system occurs, because this is a known failure in the process, and the one area most hospitals are making the most effort to force compliance.

Some hospitals are even going so far as to install alarms that go off, having monitored staff entry into the room, and whether or not the staff washed their hands before leaving. Between a sensor switch on the sink, and a badge the employee wears, and a sensor that times them from when they enter and exit a room, alarms will go off alerting anyone around that staff did not wash their hands.

It is a shame that things like this have become necessary.

I saw a nurse with a c-diff patient, which is highly contagious diarrhea, washing and changing the patient and bedlinen after a large, nasty liquid bowel movement. She had no gloves on.

She called a tech into the room to help turn the patient. Upon turning the patient, she pinched her finger somehow, and quickly stuck it in her mouth and sucked it, hollering, "OW!"

Needless to say, she came down with a lovely case of c-diff, and was treated at the expense of the hospital, even though it was due to her own noncompliance with standard contact precautions. Her own stupidity caused her to become seriously ill, be out of work for an extended period of time, and even risk transmission to other patients before she was taken out of the workplace.

Noncompliance is a very serious issue, but not treated as serious by many, many healthcare workers.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

It suits the presstitutes. The word 'ebola' will send people into a panic. In reality, 10,000x more people will die of malaria next year. A mosquito borne virus is less sexy than 'ebola'. Man your panic stations.

a reply to: Libertygal

And this is exactly the reason I'm worried that they are downplaying the risks of contagiousness of ebola in this country: if the classical thinking and advice says "ebola is very hard to catch by casual contact" then you get not only healthcare workers that think they're not at a big risk (and therefore don't always follow strict sanitation protocols) but also a populous that is even less diligent about simple things like hand-washing and avoiding contact with people who are sick. This is one of those situations where doom-porn could actually *help* contain the outbreak, because hyper-vigilance is much better than nonchalance when it comes to controlling an outbreak. If you tell people "it's not contagious, don't worry about catching it" then they will act accordingly, and help spread it even faster.

Just posting this to document some conversation above.

Ebola-Stricken Doc Gives 'Experimental Serum' to Coworker

An "experimental serum" to treat the virus arrived for the two infected Americans, but there was only enough for one person, according to Samaritan’s Purse.

Dr. Kent Brantly, who noticed his Ebola symptoms and quarantined himself last week, offered the dose to the other infected American, missionary Nancy Writebol.

Both Brantly and Writebol remain in “stable, but grave condition” according to the statement.

“However, Dr. Brantly received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old boy who had survived Ebola because of Dr. Brantly’s care,” Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, said in a statement. "The young boy and his family wanted to be able to help the doctor that saved his life.”

Only available dose. Interesting. Also interesting in the video are the TSA screening procedures.

More about the "experimental" serum.

The medical charity Samaritan's Purse hasn't spelled out the source or the nature of the serum available to its workers.

Treating Ebola With An Experimental Serum: Why It Might Helpp

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: grainofsand

People can take precautions. Any human fluid, even through secretions, contact with broken skin, water droplets through the ventilation system, etc can transmit this virus. People living in the areas where Ebola cases have been reported have to take precautions which can help them avoid possibly being infected.

Agreed.
Taking advantage of any known precautions is a sensible and rational course of action.
Fearfully crying 'The sky is falling down!!!' would not be as helpful though.

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
a reply to: grainofsand

People can take precautions. Any human fluid, even through secretions, contact with broken skin, water droplets through the ventilation system, etc can transmit this virus. People living in the areas where Ebola cases have been reported have to take precautions which can help them avoid possibly being infected.

Can you please provide a link that substantiates your post?

I just read this: Infection Prevention & Control Recommendations for Ebola Patients Entering US Hospitals and, other than using a negative pressure room if the patient requires aerosol producing procedures, there is NO mention of the virus being transmitted through a ventilation system...

Honestly, people who are not familiar with infection control procedures should learn about them, especially if they're interested and/or concerned about this issue.

a reply to: mindlessbombs

I have to agree with you about the airport. One thing is for certain. Both doctors coming from out of state to Emory and to the CDC will be travelling through this airport. There will be a lot of epidemiologists with a ton of interest in this patient, so I would expect an influx of doctors, from everywhere. China, India, and all over the US.

When the topic of flu season comes up every fall, and the discussion of modes of transmission enters the topic, it is always airports and air travel that is used to explain away how it travels not just state to state, but country to country, so fast.

Air travel has, and always will be, the fastest mode of widespread, rapid transmission of any disease.

IF... you were to want to spread a disease, quickly, and worldwide, the first place to go would be Atlanta Hartsfield. It is the busiest airport in the world.

I said IF you wanted to, but it also works IF it is UNplanned, as well.

a reply to: 00nunya00

if u got too pick your team
as the head of CDC Atlanta
im sure will be allowed to do,the same,,,, who u gonna pick?? miss screams her head off and faints?? really?

a reply to: ozwest

And what's to say this virus *can't possibly* be spread by mosquitoes? It doesn't need to be able to infect a host to be transmitted by the host. Mosquitoes suck your blood (introducing the virus to at least their exoskeleton) and then go and stick that sucker into someone else. Ticks do the same, and even regurgitate some of their stomach contents into the next bitten person. Just because we haven't identified insects as a carrier of ebola doesn't mean it doesn't happen. There are plenty of cases, such as the infected doctor, where it's a mystery how they contracted it. At some point, we have to start broadening our search for transmission beyond "he made a human error without knowing it."